


Ariano University

by H_potter45



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/M, M/M, Vampire Harry, Vampire Louis, Vampire Zayn, Vampires, harry louis, larry stylinson - Freeform, one direction - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-23
Updated: 2014-07-04
Packaged: 2018-01-13 09:52:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1221823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/H_potter45/pseuds/H_potter45
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At Ariano International University, people from all over the world come together to live in peace.<br/>At least, that's what the website says.</p><p>Liam and Niall, two guys from Los Angeles, come to London to start a new life.<br/>They are given a warm welcome by students Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson. But are these boys who they claim to be?</p><p>The real question is: will their parents ever see them back again?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The head of the university has a nice smile, that's the only thing Liam has noticed so far. He has been in his room for almost half an hour. Asking himself why he ever wanted to study in London. It's not that he gets homesick very often. It's just that he would rather be home right now.  
"So, could you sign this form for me please? It's nothing special, just to make sure that we are not in trouble when something unexpected happens. After that, I have someone bring you to your class. I am sure it will be a wonderful time, meeting your new classmates."  
The smile doesn't disappear from the man's face, even after he is done talking.

When Liam has finally found the courage to say: "I am sorry, but I was wrong. I don't want to study here. I don't belong here," someone knocks on the door. The guy, probably another student, completely ignores the head of the university before walking over to Liam. With his curly brown hair, he must be a populair guy with the ladies, Liam thinks by himself. Together with his green eyes and nice smile, he looks like a beautiful person.  
Liam would definitely sleep with him, if the chance would be there.

"Hello! I am Harry," the guy says with a friendly smile on his face.  
Gosh, his smile is gorgeous.  
"Harry, would you be so kind to bring Liam to his new class?" The head orders him, completely oblivious to Liam's feelings.  
Harry is already leading him out of the door when the head continues.  
"Also, Harry. Can you ask Louis to show him around after his classes?"  
Harry turns around before answering, "Don't worry, Austin. I will make sure somebody takes care of him." he says.  
Liam is a bit surprised by the fact that Harry calls the head by his first name.  
He is even more surprised that someone feels the need to take care of him.  
He thinks he will manage to find his way around by himself. Nonetheless, he likes the thought of Harry showing him around.  
Every minute in Harry's presence is a good one, Liam is sure of it.

Harry starts chatting immediately (charming and beautiful, of course) when they walk through the university building.  
"Do you already know some people from here?" he asks.  
"No," Liam tells him. "I am from California, so I don't know anybody."  
Honestly, it wasn't his choice to come here. His parents had found a website about Ariano University, the university where all people live together in peace. Liam didn't understand what it meant, to live together in peace. He thought he was living quite a peaceful live in California, with his friends and family. But, his parents used to be hippies in their youth, so they literally lived up at the idea of Liam living in a little peaceful society. And well, as long as they payed for his education, he couldn't care less.

 "Hmm.." Harry says, "I think somebody else from California arrived yesterday. I think his name is Niall. But you will meet him soon enough. On this university, we all know each other by name. It's a very nice place, but Louis will tell you about that and everything else after your class. If you need anything, just tell him. If you see someone with short brown hair, and beautiful blue eyes, it is him. But, if you are not sure, you can also wait till the moment someone makes a joke. He is a very funny guy."  
They are standing in front of Liam's classroom now. For a moment it looks like Harry is going to leave him, without further words.  
But then, he turns around and wishes him good luck.  
"Oh, and Liam. Make sure you don't forget to wait for Louis to show you around. You won't regret it."

There he is, standing alone in front of the door to his new class, to the beginning of his new life.  
He really hopes he is not going to regret it.


	2. Chapter 2

"You must be new here," the teacher says the moment he walks in.  
The class, consisting of mostly boys and a few girls, is standing in a circle around the teacher. If Liam didn't know better, he would have thought they were part of some kind of religious experiment.  
Everybody is looking at him, he hears some people whisper.

"Why don't you come here and introduce yourself to the rest of the class?" the teacher asks him.  
Right, if there is something Liam hates, it is standing in front of a group of people.  
"Hi! I am Liam, I am twenty years old. I come from California and I just arrived this morning so I still feel a bit tired."  he says. He feels nervous, and all these people staring at him like he is some weird kind of animal doesn't make him feel any better.

"Definitely human,"  he hears someone whisper.  
Well yeah, of course it is in the human nature to feel tired after a long flight, Liam thinks by himself.  
''Do you have a favourite animal?" a guy with very dark eyes asks him after an awkward silence.  
"Well, I like... wolves I guess." Liam says after a while.  
A few people in the class start laughing. Liam doesn't understand why, he didn't say anything funny.

At the end of his first class, Liam feels like he could sleep for two days. The teacher had been explaining something about statistics, but Liam doesn't think he remembers anything. All students are preparing to leave the classroom, so he decides that this would be a good moment to find this Louis guy. A guy with brown hair just left the room and Liam isn't sure about whether this was the guy he was looking for or not. He suddenly realises that the head told Harry to ask Louis to show him around. But, Harry never asked Louis anything.

Great, Liam thinks by himself, so Louis doesn't even know he has to show him around. He decides to just grab his books, and to ask Harry to show him around whenever he sees him. Liam is just not in the mood right now, and he feels like he wouldn't remember anything if someone would show him the school right now.

He doesn't know why, but he isn't feeling comfortable walking alone through the university building. Maybe he is so tired that he is going crazy, he thinks. But he could swear he hears some people talk about him.

A guy with dark eyes looks straight in his eyes while passing him in the corridor.  
Another girl smiles at him in a very creepy way.  
Where am I? Is all he can think. What is this for kind of place?  
"You're radiating fearfulness, Liam Payne," someone says, while putting their hands on his shoulder.   
It is not a scary voice, so he turns around. He looks right in two blue eyes.  
Please, let this be the person who was going to show me around, Liam thinks.  
"My name is Louis. Harold told me that you're new here." the guy tells him.  
"Harold?" Liam asks him a bit surprised. He doesn't know a Harold.  
"Sorry, Harry! He told me he met you this morning." Louis answers.  
If Liam doesn't understand how Louis has spoken to Harry during the time between their class and the conversation now, at least he doesn't show it to Louis.

Louis is kind enough to bring him to his room. He tells Liam that he will be sharing his room with another student, Zayn.  
"But he is not around that often, so he will not bother you that much." Louis tells him.  
"Is he a friend of yours?'' Liam asks him. ''Yup. And he is a lovely guy, but he lives in his own world."  
"Liam,'' he starts in a more serious voice then, ''I want you to warn for some of the people out there."  
"You see, Ariano University is a nice place. People don't leave once they have come in. But, there are a few rules I need you to understand. First, I need you to stay in your room every night from 11PM to 5AM. It will not be possible for you to open your room from the inside during the night. If you are not in your room before 11PM, the head will assume you are missing. You don't want that to happen, cause the price you need to pay for that is very high. The lock on your door is working on fingerprints, so you and Zayn will always be able to come in. Do you understand that part?" he asks him. The funny Louis seems to be completely gone now.  
Liam doesn't think Louis needs to be this serious about a few rules. But he nods anyway.

"Second, you can't go outside the university building on your own. Everytime you want to go outside, you need to take someone from the older students with you. I will make sure you meet every older student, so there should be no problem with that. They are all friendly, and they will love to take you outside. If somebody sees you out of the university building on your own, you will be immediately send home.''  
Those rules are insane, is the only thing Liam can think at that moment. He is twenty years old, for god's sake. Why can't he go out on his own? They are not living in the jungles, are they?  
"It's not safe outside" Louis says, like he had just heard Liam's thoughts. "And I hope you will never figure out why."  
And with that last sentence, he stands up and prepares to leave the room.  
"I suggest you try and find you own way through the building tomorrow," he says before leaving, "If you need any help, just ask for me. And you are by this invited to eat at my table tomorrow night, so that I can introduce you to some people."

He leaves the room without a sound. Liam doesn't understand how his door works on fingerprints, but Louis seems to be able to jump in and out other people's rooms.  
He has so many questions, but he just doesn't know where to start.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, during dinner, Louis keeps word and introduces him to a lot of new people.  
"The blond guy over there is Niall. He is the guy from California Harry spoke to you about. Very easy to talk to, I think you two would make good friends. Don't really like the fact that he has dyed his hair blonde, though. I prefer a natural brunette myself."  
"Then, over there, is Zayn. Your roommate. The guy with the black hair and dark eyes. Beautiful boy, if I may say so. He will come over here in a minute."

As if he has heard them, Zayn comes over to their table. He greets Louis with a tight hug.  
"Louis, babes. I heard you last night. Please explain to me again why I wanted to sleep your couch?" he says, before looking at Liam. "And who is this then? You made some new friends?"

Louis smiles at him. "This is the other new guy from California, his name is Liam."  
"Aah!," Zayn says, "My roomie! Isn't he! Nice to meet you Liam."  
After a minute or two of speaking to Zayn, Liam has decided that he likes his new roommate. Zayn is funny in a very subtle way, he is genuinely interested in what Liam does and he seems like a great friend to Louis. Well, and to all the other people he is hugging. For example, Harry, who Liam sees again for the first time since he arrived. He still looks as beautiful as before, Liam thinks.  
The older students seem to have formed some kind of clan. A clan of which Louis seems to be the middle, always the center of attention.

"Hi Liam," some familair voice wakes him up out of his deep analysis of Louis' popularity. He turns around to see Harry standing behind his back with a guilty look on his face. Apparently, Harry thinks he is not standing close enough to Liam, when he brings his mouth to Liam's ear.  
''I am sorry for yesterday, Liam.'' he hears Harry whisper, "But everything went alright in the end, didn't it?"  
Liam nods slowly, he can't help but feel a bit like a twelve year old girl with a crush. All because of Harry standing so close to his face. It's almost embarrassing.  
"It doesn't matter. Everything was fine. I was tired anyway," he says quickly.  
He sees how Louis turns around to look at the two of them, a knowing look in his eyes.

"Good," Harry says, before walking over to the person staring at them. He hugs him from behind, and whispers something in his ear. Liam thinks he is not the only one who happens to be the victim of a magnetic field around Harry Styles. He is a bit less happy when it turns out that Harry looks just like him around Louis. That is not embarrassing, that is just answering the other person's enthusiasm.

The girl next to him, her name is Perrie, looks at the two of them before whispering in Liam's ear.  
"Harry tries to seduce everybody around him. And it works. All the time. Don't let him fool you."  
"You mean, boys and girls?" he asks her, a bit confused.  
"If I say everybody, I mean everybody. He loves the attention. He loves people going weak in the knees for him."  
"Is he like, a womanizer then?" he asks her. She starts laughing at his question.  
"No, he is not. As I said, he loves a bit of attention," she answers vaguely.

He looks at Louis and Harry for a while. Harry seems to have found a seat in Louis' lap. Of course. Why didn't Liam think of that.  
"And what about Louis, then?" he asks Perrie.  
"Louis could have any person he wants to have. Boys and girls. People love him, and it's not just because he is the son of the head of this university." she answers.  
Liam can't believe his ears. Louis is the son of the head? Of course he is. That explains why he was the one telling him all those stupid rules.  
"The head trusts him more than he trusts the teachers. Louis has got a very good control, if you know what I mean." she continues.

"Perrie! Watch your tongue my love," Louis voice sounds from across the table. Harry is still sitting on his lap. They are both staring at Perrie now.  
They don't seem to be angry, just a bit concerned.  
Liam feels like he has lost the plot a long time ago.

-

It takes Liam a month in this new place, before he knows exactly which questions he wants to ask. At 10PM on friday night, Liam decides that he wants some answers.  
''I wouldn't go out anymore, Liam.'' Zayn had told him. He wanted to go anyway. Zayn had become his ally in this whole situation. The person he could always ask for advice. It turned out that Zayn was also one of the students who was allowed to accompany him if he wanted to go outside. At least three times a week, they were going out together. Going to the cinema, eating dinner, shopping.

On plenty of those ocassions, other students came along with him. Harry seemed to be always in for a drink at night, and he was most of the times the one who stayed until Liam decided to go home. He felt adopted by Harry and Louis anyway. Whatever there was going on outside the university building, he didn't feel frightened when they were with him. In fact, nothing ever happened when they were with him. Not once, and that was why Liam decided this one night to go and find some answers.

''Can you just tell me where Louis' room is? I will go straight to his room.'' he tells him.  
''Just don't make it too late, mate. Louis is my best friend, but you don't want him to be angry. He sleeps in room 236, in the other building.''

Liam can't say it feels nice to walk at 10PM from his own building to Louis' building. He isn't the only one outside. He can feel the presence of other people, but he doesn't see them. Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all.

''Liam, what are you doing here?'' a surprised Harry is the one who opens the door.  
''Didn't Zayn tell you that you shouldn't be out this late?'' he asks a bit concerned.  
''I just came to see Louis. Need some answers. Otherwise I will not be able to sleep.''  
Harry sighs before letting Liam come in.

Louis is clearly not expecting any people, laying in his boxershort on the twin bed in his room. It takes him a moment to figure out that there is a visitor.  
''I told him it was too late to come over. But he seems to be searching for some answers, Lou.'' Harry explains for him.

''The poor boy. Wanted to ask questions the moment he came in, didn't he?'' Louis says with a sneaky smile, while standing up from his bed.  
In the meantime, Harry has found the opportunity to stand close to Liam (again), and he feels how he starts stroking Liam's neck with his hand.  
It's not that Liam doesn't like it. Of course he does. It's more that he finds it a bit strange. But then, Harry and Louis are a bit strange.

''Yes, Lewis. Always asking questions, this one. Have you ever heard someone's thoughts so clear?'' Harry answers him.  
Liam doesn't understand what's going on.  
He does know however, that he completely trusts these boys.  
''Take a seat.'' Louis points at the bed he is sitting on. Liam goes to sit next to Harry.

''He is very pretty, isn't he?'' Louis says. ''And he smells even better.'' Harry says, his voice slightly changing. Liam sees how his eyes are getting a bit red.  
When Harry starts to come closer to Liam, Louis doesn't seem to be bothered in the slightest. Liam notices that Harry's eyes are really red now. And that's when everything in his mind clicks.

They are vampires.

While Harry's face is coming closer and closer to Liam's neck, Liam is trying to make sense out of the face that Louis is the son of the head, but he isn't trying to do anything about his best friend who seems to be having more and more difficulties with controlling his thirst for Liam's blood. Harry literally looks thirsty. Like he hasn't eaten in a few days.

He probably hasn't, Liam suddenly remembers. He was out with Harry and Perrie for the past two nights. There was no way he would have eaten during those nights, or Liam would have noticed his absence. So this is it. Here he is, in a room with two vampires who seem to be hungry. Great.

When Harry finally opens his mouth against Liam's neck, it feels like he has been waiting ages for it to happen. He wonders if it will hurt. He wonders if Harry will suck him empty or not. He wonders if Louis will do anything, or whether Louis just likes to watch innocent people die.

The next moment, he feels how someone is kissing his neck. He looks at Harry's face, and sees that his eyes have gone normal again. The adrenaline from the moment before comes out, but in the wrong way. Liam feels how he is getting hard because of Harry kissing his neck. He can feel Harry stare at him, and he feels like drowning and drowning more and more in a bath that's called Harry Styles.

''Enough, Harold.'' Louis' voice comes out as a warning. Liam immediately feels like falling back, like awaking out of a beautiful dream.  
''Don't let the poor boy question his sexuality on a night like this. He has already been through enough.''

Liam feels himself relaxing again after laying on Louis' bed for half an hour. Harry has made him some tea after apologizing for his behaviour. Louis has promised him to bring him home tonight.  
''Did you really think I was going to bite you?'' Harry finally asks him.  
''Yes. I don't know anything about you as a vampire. Why didn't you bite me?'' Liam answers.  
''Because he has great control over his thirst,'' Louis answers for Harry.  
''We both have, actually.'' Harry says then. ''Louis' control is even better.''  
''How do you know that,'' Liam asks them. ''I mean, how do you know who has the better control over his body?''  
''Because of something called endurance. After a few weeks without food, or blood in our case, your mind is going to play tricks with you. It's called surviving. If Harry wouldn't have eaten in three weeks, he would have killed you regardless of whether he sees you as a friend or not. That's the moment his body takes over. You can train it, obviously, but there is a genetic point where your body can't handle the hunger anymore.'' Louis explains.

''You were afraid for nothing, though. It was more to make you feel what happens when you go outside on a night like this. If you would have knocked at the wrong door, you would have been dead by now.'' he continues  
''But how did you know Harry wasn't really that thirsty?'' Liam wonders.

The silence in the room makes Liam wonder whether he has asked the wrong question.  
''Because I know when he is thirsty, and when not.'' Louis answers.


	4. Chapter 4

It wasn't like Liam was planning on doing anything stupid. Sometimes, the problems just came to him. Today was not his lucky day and he had felt it from the moment he woke up. He had felt it from the moment Harry jumped on Zayn's bed while he was still sleeping.

The morning before, Harry had decided that it would be boys night in Liam and Zayn's bedroom. Liam had wondered all day what 'boys night' exactly meant to vampires (he expected something about Harry sucking Zayn's blood out of his neck in front of Liam's nose). It turned out that 'boys night' was just an ordinary night with scary movies and popcorn. Oh, and with a lot of PDA from Harry's side. Liam can't remember a person who didn't end up sitting on Harry's lap. They had all been drunk, and well, Harry was still a fit lad. So Liam might have sat on his lap as well. Just to try how that feels.

And well, he had been pretty happy on Harry's lap. He also thought that Harry had been pretty happy with him on his lap. But then, on a certain moment, Zayn had decided to ruin everything with this great idea of playing truth or dare.  
Of course, Liam had chosen dare when it was his turn. Of course, the other people in the room thought it was a great idea to make Liam kiss Harry. Not even an ordinary kiss on the mouth, but a french kiss which had to last 30 seconds. Yes, they had been pretty drunk. Liam is quite sure that nobody would have come up with that idea if they hadn't been pissed.

But that wasn't the bad part. The bad part was where Harry refused to give him a french kiss, saying something like ''I can't do that''. And yes, Liam would have been perfectly fine with that, wasn't it for the part where Perrie had told him that Harry liked to seduce people. So Harry liked to flirt with people, but he couldn't kiss Liam? Why not? Was it because he wasn't a vampire? Was he not good enough for Mr Styles? Was he not pretty enough? Did Harry maybe feel that Liam would have sex with him in a heartbeat?

Anyway, it had been degrading. Whether Harry only liked girls or not, it had been degrading. So maybe that was the reason why he did stupid things the next day. Maybe that was the reason, why he decided to go out in the night and search for a gay club. Maybe he was just a bit sexually frustrated. But Liam was determined to find his own pretty guy and have a good night with him.

-

At 9PM, he was strolling around in the city. Not knowing where to go, because, how was he supposed to find the local gay club? In fact, how did he even know there was one? Liam decided to start asking people. And fortunately, there was a gay club. And yes, it was no more than a ten minutes walk away.

What Liam noticed as well, though, was that he was being followed by someone. His senses told him that he wasn't alone, and the feeling stayed until he walked into El Gato, the club he was searching for.  
When he walked in, he didn't expect a big place. He expected a nice little bar, big enough to meet someone to chat him up. This place was huge, with three different floors with different kinds of music. Beautiful dancers, and, more importantly, a place full of beautiful guys. Liam felt like he had found his ticket to heaven.

''You alright, lad?'' a fit guy came up to him. He asked him if he wanted a drink. Liam wasn't going to refuse. One minute later, he had found out that the guy's name was Josh and that he actually studied at the same university as Liam. He told him he was at the club with a group of friends. He asked Liam to come sit with them, but Liam didn't want to be recognised by other people. His sexuality was his own little secret, and Liam felt like it wouldn't exactly be a secret anymore if he was seen walking around a gay club on his own.

Twenty minutes later, another guy named Simon asked him whether he wanted to go outside for a bit. Liam wasn't going to refuse. Thirty minutes later, they were outside kissing each other. The guy kissed like Liam expected Harry to kiss, like a hot vampire. Thirty-one minutes later, Liam realised what he had just thought: he expected a vampire to kiss like this. Thirty-two minutes later, Simon started to talk. Liam tried to kiss his thirst away, feeling like that could be the thing that was going to save his life. At the same time, he thought he was being overly suspicious, cause there was no reason for him to asssume that this was a vampire other than that he kissed like he imagined a vampire to kiss.

The guy started to speak to him, refusing to kiss him any longer. Liam felt like that was the second rejection he was being given in two days.  
''Do you want to go to my room?'' the guy asked him, a thirsty look on his face. But then, Liam probably had the same look on his face.  
''Simon!'' he heard a voice call out. ''Is he your breakfast, mate?'' he heard another voice say. One of the guys sounded somewhat familair.  
The only thing Liam could do was keep on standing there, playing someone who didn't believe in the concept of vampires.  
When he looked up, he felt how he was pushed against a wall. He cried out when he felt how tight the grip of the other person was.

He was an idiot.

''Should have looked at the time, my dearest Liam,'' he heard Simon say. ''I am pretty sure the rules were clear to you when you stepped a foot inside the university. They actually try to protect human beings like yourself. Unfortunately, there are always a few stupid enough to break those rules.''  
''Simon!'' he heard a somewhat familair voice say. ''Wouldn't try that mate, he is Zayn's roommate.''  
Liam recognised the voice as Josh. Thank god. He wasn't alone in the hands of a vampire who probably didn't even mean to kill him.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. He heard footsteps behind him. It sounded like there was a small schoolclass of vampires standing behind his back.

''I heard he was being very touchy-feeling with your mate last night,'' he heard Simon whisper.  
Liam didn't understand what he was saying.  
''Yes, people said he sat on his lap and tried to seduce him.'' another person said.  
''Well? He should. I know what I would do if I was in his position,'' he heard a very familair voice say.  
He thought it was Louis voice, but he didn't trust his intuition anymore. He wanted it to be Louis.  
''But he was touching him! He would have slept with him! A human being trying to sleep with him.'' the other person said.  
''If we would kill every human being that tried to sleep with him, we should kill them all.'' the ultimate answer sounded.  
''But then, if we would look in their brains, we could kill a lot of vampires as well, Simon. I hope you do realise that Harry is the least innocent in this situation, right? I've told him to stop playing games with Liam here, but apparently he was too drunk last night. He told me this morning that Liam was acting strange towards him since they were involved in a steamy game of truth or dare. I am sure Liam wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him hurting his feelings. That does remind me of Zayn, though. Where on earth is he?'' the familair voice said.  
Liam wanted to ask Louis whether the person could be a bit more gentle with him, whether he could turn around. But Louis seemed to be different in a situation surrounded by vampire friends than he normally was with Harry. He didn't want to trigger something, so he didn't ask anything.  
''Losen your grip on him, please, Simon.'' Louis said. ''Maybe the boy then finally realises that I wouldn't like seeing him be hurted in any situation, whether with my friends or with Harold.''  
  
When someone turned him around in a gentle way, he could only look at Louis in shock. Thát was too descriptive to be a guess.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Liam has no opportunity to tell Zayn what happened before breakfast.  
Harry comes up to him immediately when he sits down to eat his breakfast.  
"Do you realise that going out on your own in the night is equal to commiting suicide, Liam?'' he starts. "Do you realise, that if you were found dead somewhere in the city, I would feel guilty about it for the rest of my life? Which is a pretty long time, by the way. We need to talk about the night in your room, Liam. I never meant to make you feel insecure, or something like that. You see, I can be a bit tactless sometimes. I didn't know you were into guys, so I thought it would be harmless to play with you for a bit. Well, until you started to act in a cold way. That was when I realised that I had made a mistake.'' he explains.  
  
He doesn't like to talk about his secrets, Liam can tell.  
''Most people I am friends with around here are vampires, and they know that I don't mean to talk someone in bed when I am acting like that. I think I just didn't realise what difference such a small bit of information makes. Louis told me that you weren't seeing it as a game, so I didn't want to take it any further during the night in your room. But then, you know, alcohol makes me even more affectionate than normal. It's nothing personal, it's just that I like the warmth of human beings and the feeling of other vampires close to me. During the truth or dare game, everybody was drunk. They didn't realise what they were saying when they told you to kiss me. They would never come up with such a dare in a normal situation.''

Liam can't help but feel like there is a last question he wants to ask. So he does.  
''But, are you into guys or are you into girls? It's okay if you don't want to say it.''  
He sees how Harry's eyes start smiling. The rest of his face doesn't show anything, though.  
''I am into my first love. Since that was a guy, I guess that I am into guys. But I feel attracted to people.''  
Liam feels that he isn't in the position to ask further questions about Harry's love life.  
Zayn told him that there are a lot of vampires who fell in love with people, and watched them die when they grew old.  
He doesn't want to make Harry feel upset. Also, he is quite sure about the fact that Harry and Louis sleep together.

It is only then that he notices Louis sitting next to Zayn on the opposite of the table. Liam has never seen Louis looking angry and in a split second he decides that he never wants to see him angry again. The weird part is that he isn't directing his anger towards Liam, but seems to be in a very heated conversation with Zayn. They stop arguing when they feel how Liam is staring at the two of them.  
''Next time you decide to go out in the middle of the night, think twice.'' he feels Harry whisper in his ear. ''It's not you who has to pay the price of walking away, it's someone else. That's how the system works, that's why there has never been a human being who was killed inside the university building. Every vampire is protecting a human being. If something happens with the human being, the vampire pays the price. The higher the physical harm done to the human being, the higher the psychological harm done to the vampire.'' he explains.

"I've offered Louis to take it on me, because I feel like this has all been my fault.'' Harry tells, but stops when he sees how shocked Liam is. He never intended to hurt Zayn. Who knows what these creatures are going to do with him?  
"They are not going to hurt him, Liam. There would be no point in it. He is a very strong vampire. If he wanted, he could kill all those teachers. But it's still a punishment, and believe me, I would rather be physically harmed than to go through the shit they have come up with.'' he tells.  
''What does he have to do?'' Liam asks with a trembling voice. He feels so guilty now for running away. If someone had told him this before, he would never have done it.  
''I won't tell you.'' Harry answers. ''There is no need for you to know. All I was saying is that I have tried to let Zayn stay out of this, but Louis doesn't want me to do it.''  
''Why not?'' Liam asks. ''Because Louis feels like there is something you need to figure out. I promised not to tell you. You will figure it out soon enough.'' Harry answers.  
When Liam looks at the spot where Louis and Zayn were sitting, they are not there anymore.

''Have you ever been punished like that, Harry?'' he asks, still with a trembling voice.  
''I have been punished once, when I just had become a vampire. It's a long story.'' Harry begins.  
''I was a human being, just like you. I had just arrived at the university, without any friends from home. The head told me that I had to take care of myself since I was a very attractive meal for the vampires. Yes, don't look so shocked. They told me from the beginning what was going on, because I was more at risk than the other human beings. My protector and only friend from the beginning, was Louis. He was only a few year older than me in vampire years, but he was already powerful as hell back then. He was still finishing his training to be a protector though, and had to leave for a couple of weeks. Simon became my new protector, the same one you saw on your night out. Not a very powerful vampire, and not very nice to human beings. As you have already figured out yourself.'' he takes a sip of his coffee before continuing.  
  
''Anyway, it turned out that Simon wasn't strong enough to control himself.  We went out on a night, to the same club you went to. That club has been there since ages, because it's the favourite spot of the vampires in London. Simon was drunk, and I danced with another attractive guy. He noticed that the other guy liked me and became jealous. While they fought outside the club, another vampire took his chance and bit me. Louis told me later that my blood smells very sweet to other vampires, but I didn't know that back then. The guy was not a bad one, he was just thirsty. He wanted to suck me dry, so that I would not feel any pain. He didn't have the chance to suck me dry, though, as Louis pulled him off me and killed him on the spot. He had come back from his training that day, and felt that something was wrong with me.''  
Harry is silent for a while. It must be difficult to talk about the moment your life turned upside down because of a reason you had nothing to do with, Liam thinks.

''I was too far gone to be saved as a human being. He asked me whether I wanted to die, or to be turned by him. I chose the last one, so he let me drink from his blood. The change took no more than two days. After that, I had to kill a human being. It's like feeding a baby milk from the mother, they get so much stronger from that than from cow-milk. Blood from animals tastes not as good, and it works not as good. Louis learned me everything I needed to learn. Without him or his father, I'd still be a lost puppy in the vampire world. Or dead,'' he tells.

''But, one night, I made a mistake. It was in my first month of being a vampire, and I was hungry all the time. Normally I would go hunting with Lou, but he wasn't there for some reason. I killed the first person I could find in the city. It turned out to be a girl who was studying at the university, but outside on her own against the rules. When they found out, I was being punished. My punishment was worse than Zayn's punishment will be. I had killed a student of the school, something that they wanted to prevent. If it wasn't for the head's warm feelings for me, I wouldn't even be here now,'' he finishes his story.  
  
Liam could listen all day to his steady, warm voice. And he still has some questions to ask.  
''Do you and Louis still kill people?'' he asks, even though he can already guess the answer.  
''We hunt every few weeks, yes. To remain strong as vampires. But most of the time, we feed from animal blood. I would love to tell you that we only kill animals, but I would go crazy if we did that. The feeling of hunting someone down is very nice. The smell of fear that comes off them only makes it better, to be honest. They either freeze or run away, and both are good. I hate to say it, but I do get a rush out of killing people. Always have and always will.'' Harry answers honestly.

''Has there ever been a moment where you couldn't kill someone? Just because you felt empathy for the other person?'' he asks then.  
Harry sighs before answering.  
''Yes, I definitely had that feeling a couple of times. But you can't do that. Not as a vampire. If people find out that there are vampires in the city, we will all get killed. That is part of the reason we always go hunting with another person, because sometimes you just can't do it. It needs to happen anyway.''  
There is a short silence before he continues.  
''I was once having a conversation with this innocent teenager. She was in the city around midnight, walking around on her own. I knew there were other vampires around, so I invited her to my room. She came with me and told me about the problems with her parents. I was definitely planning on biting her whenever she had finished her story. But when she started talking, I could identify with her so much. I liked her, and I didn't want to kill her. Louis came in when she was crying on my shoulders. He understood what was happening, but he didn't want me to let her go just like that. She had seen my red eyes when I was standing on the street with her. She could tell her parents in a fight, or she could say things about us to her classmates. The risk was simply too big. He gave the girl two options, to die or to turn into a vampire. She chose the last option.''  
Harry looks sad when he tells about the girl. Liam doesn't understand, because he thinks it is kind of a happy ending. But he decides not to ask more questions for now. Harry gave him so much information about himself, he needs some time to think about it first.

''Liam, there is a reason why I am telling you so much. Zayn will come back within a day. He will be emotionally exhausted, as I was when I came back. He needs someone to support him, just like I had someone to support me when I came out. The punishment is not purely a bad thing, it can cause good things as well. Obviously, his friends are going to be there for him. But we want you to be there for him as well. The bond between a protector and human being is a very important one. It is your life or death within this city. And if you're lucky, if means having a friend for the rest of your life. Do you even know the reason why Zayn wasn't there when Josh found you?'' he asks.

''No, I don't,'' Liam answers. Louis never told him about that. And he didn't have the chance talk to Zayn after what happened the night before.  
''Zayn had been following you from the university building. Some vampires, friends of Simon, started a fight with him, so he lost you. He came home last night, after looking everywhere for you. He went straight to my room, to ask whether I could help him. That was the moment Louis found you outside the club.'' he says.

''The only reason why Louis went outside the club, was because Josh told him he had seen a human being from the university on his own. Normally, vampires don't stop other vampires from killing their food. I tell you for once and for all, Simon is not someone you should trust. If he can kill people, he will do it. The head didn't want him to come back after he killed a six year old girl in the city, 50 years ago. That gave him every freedom to kill people from the university.'' he continues.

He turns around before Liam has the chance to see what he is looking at. A moment later, Louis walks over to the two of them. The first thing he does, is give Harry a hug so tight that Liam worries about his friend's bones. Then he remembers that they are vampires. Next, Louis comes up to him and gives him a hug as well. Liam is almost surprised by the tenderness of this hug. He didn't know the hug of a vampire could give so much warm feelings to a human being.


	6. Chapter 6

Liam spends the rest of the day hanging out with Niall and Harry.  
  
When he had just arrived at the university, he didn't spend a lot of time with Niall. Not because he didn't like the guy, but because he wanted to spend time with the older students.  
''Most of the humans immediately sense that something is different around here. Like you did on your first day,'' Louis had told him once. ''I always try to keep the secrets of the school out of their ears, but for some reason most of them find out anyway. There are people who couldn't care less about the idea of living with vampires. Look at Harold, who was being protected by the other vampires of the school before he was one of them. He knew from day one what was going on, but I have never seen him acting scared around one of them. Not even when a vampire tried to kill him. We all knew he was going to be bitten sooner or later. If you were a vampire, you would know too. His blood smells even better than your blood. Believe me, that says something.''  
It made Liam wonder about his own safety. It is clear to him that Louis protected Harry from the beginning like a mother lion protects her cubs. Also, Louis always seems to sense where to be at the right time. But what about Liam? Who was going to protect him when he was attacked? Harry made it perfectly clear to him, vampires didn't stop other vampires from eating their food. Not that Liam would care that much about becoming a vampire. In some ways, vampires have an easier life than human beings on the university.   
''There are examples of humans who integrated very well, like Josh and Perrie.'' Louis had continued. ''I sometimes even forget they are not vampires. But, you have to realise, it is not easy for most human beings to know that their life would be in danger if they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Not everybody can deal with that.''  
It seems to Liam that him and Niall did a good job of becoming integrated in the vampire clan. Niall is hanging out with different people most of the time. Josh has become one of his best friends and him and Harry seem very close as well. But then, Harry seems close to most students. He is a very charming lad and Liam understands why the head trusts him with the new students.

It's 8PM and they have just seen the latest Harry Potter movie in the cinema, when Harry asks them whether they want to go to the vampire place again. Niall doesn't understand what he is talking about, but Liam can already guess which place he means. ''You mean the place where you and I both almost got killed?'' he asks him with a sneaky smile on his face. ''Exactly, my dearest Liam,'' Harry answers. ''Niall, you can't say you have lived if you haven't been there. It's great. Even for people like you.''  
Liam assumes he means _straight_ people. People who aren't interested in the sweaty bodies of hot guys. That kind of people. For someone who says he is interested in people, Harry talks very much like a gay person. But Liam would never tell him that.  
''It's a fine place for people like you, isn't it Liam?'' Harry directs his attention to him. ''Or are you into girls as well?'' he asks. Liam can tell he already knows the answer. But, Harry has nothing to do with that, so he answers: ''Yes, actually. I like boys and girls. But I prefer girls most of the time. Don't understand how people can not like girls.''   
''Ooh,'' Harry answers softly, ''That's probably the reason why the first place you went to was a gay club. That must be the reason why you were almost killed there. Because you like girls so much.'' He says it with an emphasis on the 'girls'. Clearly not interested in Liam's lies.  
''The first place I went to when I walked outside the university by myself was this club. Gay people find this club with their intuition. Because it's a true heaven for people like you and me. Because we all would like to take someone home after a night out.'' he says.  
  
Liam can't believe his own ears. ''You went here by yourself and no vampire touched you back then?'' he asks.  
''Nobody touched me for a very long time, to be honest. I lived on the university for two years while not being touched by anyone.'' Harry answers.  
''But, didn't they have the same rules back then?'' Niall asks, just as surprised as Liam is.  
''Absolutely. But the head wasn't going to punish Louis, was he?'' Harry says with a sneaky smile. Liam sometimes forgets how clever the boy is.  
''And Louis wasn't afraid that someone was going to bite you?'' he asks.  
''Not really,'' Harry answers softly, ''He knew nobody would try to bite me and he knew it would take him a few seconds to come and help me if someone was stupid enough.''  
''But, you have been bitten...'' Niall says.  
''Louis had started his training program, the head wanted him to finish it. He was going to be of great value to the university, cause back then we only had protectors like Simon.'' Harry says.  
''He didn't want to go, because he felt that there was nobody to protect me. Well, that turned out to be true,'' Harry says bitterly.  
''I managed, though. Until the day he came back from his training. I was bitten by a vampire who didn't belong here. He saw me standing there on my own, and took his chance when Simon was preoccupied. I would have done the same thing, to be honest. People always say I smell really nice. Even nicer than you, and I would defnitely bite you if you were standing somewhere in the city on your own.'' he says.  
Liam doesn't know whether he should take that as a compliment or not.  
   
-

They have been in the club for almost 2 hours when Liam notices that Perrie was right when she told him that Harry loves the attention from other people. Harry has been on the dance floor all the time, chatting to other guys. His body language is flirty all the time. For about half an hour, he has been dancing with the same guy. He is very hot, with his hair similair to Louis' and a very nice face. The more Harry drinks, the more sexual his movements seem to become. If Liam's eyes aren't deceiving him, he is grinding against the other guy's crotch.   
  
When Harry walks outside the club with the other guy, Liam can't control his curiosity and follows him. Niall doesn't notice anything. He is in a deep conversation with another guy about American football. Typically Niall. He is not gay, but he finds his way in a gay club before Liam has the chance to step a food on the dance floor.  
What he sees outside is not what he was expecting to see. Harry is sitting on the guy's lap, smoking a sigaret. The guy has his arms around him and is talking to him in a soft voice. Harry seems to genuinely care about what he is saying, while his beautiful eyes are staring at some guy standing on the other side of the street.

After a while, the guy starts kissing Harry's neck. Liam doesn't understand why someone would like the idea of fangs against his neck, but that must be a vampire thing. Harry seems to like it, but it seems like the guy isn't having his full attention. Liam hears a soft groan coming out of the guy's mouth. He feels that the guy could take Harry right there, if the last one would allow that to happen.

When Harry puts his head against the other guy's head and puts his mouth against his neck, Liam finally understands what is happening. He sees how the look on the other guy's face changes from horny to thirsty in two seconds. Now, it's not Harry who is looking at the other side of the street, but the other guy.  
The guy on the opposite of the street crosses it and comes closer to them. He is not gay, Liam can tell immediately by the look on his face. He looks like some kind of bodybuilder. Very big, very muscled. The kind of guy Liam wouldn't want to make angry on a night out. ''Bloody fags!'' he screams out when he is close enough to Harry and the other guy. Liam sees how his hand is on a knife in his pocket. ''You know what me and my friends do with people like you?'' he says then, in a threatening voice. That's the moment Harry looks up too. ''No,'' he answers with a very calm voice, ''What would you do with us if you had the chance?'' he asks. When he looks up, Liam sees the thirsty look in his eyes.  
   
The man sees it too, Liam can tell. The fear on his face is undeniable. He starts to run away, but doesn't get the chance to do so. That's the moment Liam chooses to put his hands on his ears and his face in his lap. He would rather not see stuff like that. The man didn't deserve it, even though he was being an agressive dick. Even though he might have harmed them if he had the chance.  
Liam doesn't understand on why he was so eager to see what Harry and the other guy were going to do outside.

-

Liam doesn't know how long he has been sitting in the cold, when he feels two strong arms hugging him from behind.  
''What's going on, baby boy?'' a familair voice asks him. Liam looks around to see Zayn sitting behind him. It feels nice to be this close to him, so he doesn't move. After a while, he lets his head slowly fall back on Zayn's shoulder. He assumes everybody must think they are a gay couple.  
''I feel like I should be less curious the next time I am in this club and see Harry and another guy going outside,'' he says.  
He hears Zayn laughing, even though he doesn't think it is funny.  
''You will get used to that, Liam,'' Zayn says, his breath warm in Liam's ear. ''Harry is not what I would call 'subtle'. He would make a good actor, I think. He likes to -literally- play with his food.''  
Liam likes the feeling of Zayn sitting so close to his body. Once again it surprises him how much warmth a vampire can give, while not being warm at all.  
''Are there not more ethical ways to kill people?'' he asks then.  
''Yes. And most vampires would use them, if they weren't such saddists. Me and Louis like to use the fast approach. We surprise them from behind and bite them before they can think about what's happening. The moment we start drinking they feel nothing but good feelings. It's the least painful for them. Our dear Harry could make the death even painless, if he wanted it. But he should tell you about that himself.'' Zayn answers.

It is silent for a while between the two of them. Liam looks around to see that nobody else is outside.

''How do you feel, Zayn?'' he asks him after a while.  
''Like I have just lost a year of my life,'' Zayn answers in a soft voice. ''But this is nice. This feels good.''  
Liam decides not to talk any further. It is clear that Zayn doesn't want to talk about what happened to him. Liam remembers Harry's words about supporting him. He feels that trying to figure out what he has been going through is not what Harry meant by 'supporting'. Zayn feels so calm behind him, as if people tried to peel him off to the inner laying of his personality.   
It feels really nice in Zayn's arms. Liam realises that this is the third time he thinks about that. It feels like he has just found his home.  
He is sure Zayn wouldn't make him feel confused like Harry sometimes does. He doesn't understand why Harry seems to get such a rush out of killing people. But then, Harry is the only one he has seen killing people so far. Maybe the other vampires are just like him, but not as honest about it.  
  
It feels weird to know that he has been spending a lot of time with Harry in the last couple of months, but he feels like Harry's personality keeps surprising him. He loves to flirt with people, but doesn't seem to be looking for a boyfriend. He is sweet, but likes killing people. He is honest, but likes deceiving people. Liam feels like he wouldn't be able to describe his personality, because Harry is just a mixture of opposite characteristics.  
''Are you in love with Harry?'' Zayn asks him, like he has just heard Liam's thoughts.  
Is he in love with Harry? Liam feels like he is interested in Harry's personality. Liam feels like he would want to sleep with Harry. But love? The couple of times Liam felt love in his life, it didn't feel like his affection for Harry.  
''I don't think so,'' he answers truthfully. No. Harry doesn't give him that feeling of being home.  
Of feeling home. Oh, crap.

''And you? Do you have a girlfriend, Zayn?'' he asks him. Of course he has.  
''I wouldn't call her my girlfriend, but we do like each other. Yeah.'' Zayn answers.  
Of course. That's why Liam is still single. He falls for the wrong people.  
''Do I know her?'' he asks. Does he want to know who it is?  
''Yes,'' Zayn says with a smile on his face, ''You know her.''  
''It's Perrie. We have been going out for two years now. Since the moment she started here.'' he continues.  
''I was her protector in the beginning. Now, she doesn't need one anymore. She has enough vampire friends who would protect here if she was going out. But, the bond is still there.'' Zayn says.  
''Did you sleep in the same room in the beginning? Is that how it happened?'' Liam asks.  
''I mean, they don't normally do that. If you put the wrong vampire in a room with a girl who doesn't want him, it is going to be dangerous.'' he answers. ''But, the truth is, they didn't have another option. There are not many vampire ladies in here who have good control over their thirst. They always place the new girls with them, if that is possible. But this time, all girls were already protecting someone. So, they wanted to place her together with Harry, who wouldn't be interested in her for obvious reasons. The problem was that Harry was spending a lot of time in the room of another person. He didn't want her to sleep alone in his room, so he asked me to be her protector.''  
''Are there a lot of protectors and humans who fall in love eventually?'' Liam asks after that. He could imagine it is just a psychological thing, because the human beings are so reliant upon their protectors.  
''If you put a vampire boy and a human girl together in one room, they are going to try things. That's just how nature works. It's funny, because you can do the math before the couple even exists. The funniest thing is, a vampire girl and a human boy never worked out in the history of this university. It just doesn't happen. The girls always fall in love with another vampire. Why? Nobody knows.''  
''Has there ever been a gay couple in the university? Or is that a problem around here?'' Liam asks.  
He doesn't get an answer. Zayn just starts laughing before standing up from the ground and pulling Liam up with him.  
''Oh, you oblivious little boy. If you would only know,'' is the only thing he says before walking inside again.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, the first thing Liam notices is the bitchy face Harry pulls of during breakfast. It doesn't surprise him that Harry is hangover from last night. He wouldn't have killed a human in front of Liam's eyes if he had been sober. In fact, Liam is surprised that Harry shows up at the breakfast table. After feeding himself, he and his friend had stepped inside the club again. Probably to grind against a few other guys. He had half expected the other guy to be sitting at their breakfast table as well, but Harry had been decent enough not to bring him home, or at least to show him the exit before breakfast.

Liam wakes up out of his thoughts when he notices that Louis is staring at him from the other side of the table. He seems to be surprised by something Liam is doing. As far as Liam knows, he hasn't done anything wrong the last few minutes. It is a mystery to him why Louis looks at him like Liam murdered someone. He is still staring at him when Harry decides to start staring at him as well, the same weird look in his eyes.

Liam thinks they have all gone crazy on this particulair morning. He doesn't know what to do with the two guys staring at him.  
''Why are you both staring at me like I just killed someone?'' is the only fair question he can come up with. It makes Louis smile a bit, but he keeps staring.  
''Because it seems like a lot is going on in your mind right now, Liam. Your facial expressions are so obvious that I can almost hear you think.'' Louis says, a weird tone in his voice.  
''Let me guess,'' Harry starts talking as well, the first time this morning Liam hears him talk, ''I have done some stupid things last night, haven't I?''  
''How do you get that from my facial expressions alone?'' Liam asks surprised. Both Harry and Louis are smiling now. A kind of creepy conspiracy smile, that is. Liam doesn't like it.  
''Well, you have been staring at me for the last three minutes.'' Harry tells after a few seconds. ''That kind of gave it away.''  
''And,'' Louis says, ''Most people have that look in their eyes when they have been out with our dear Harold.''

Liam doesn't believe them. ''Please do tell, Liam. What kind of thing has Harry been doing last night that you are still thinking about it right now?'' Louis asks. His voice sounds like he is hiding a warning, even though Liam knows he doesn't mean it like that. He feels that they are cornering him. Or, that Louis is cornering him while Harry is not able to do anything about it.  
But, was Harry supposed to do what he did last night? Liam has no idea. And it's not like he can ask Harry if this is serious or not. He understands that in the past couple of minutes, more has been going on than what he was seeing. It seems like Harry and Louis have had their own conversation. Creepy vampires.

''Harry,'' Louis soft voice sounds, ''What do you remember about last night?''  
Liam feels that this conversation has gone from playful to not so playful in a couple of seconds.  
''Mate, seriously. Do you want me to tell what I've been doing last night? I don't know, Lou. You know what I do on those nights out.'' Harry's says.  
''Were you hungry last night?'' Louis ask him. Liam likes to know whether Harry is going to speak the truth to Louis about last night or not.  
''Maybe I was a bit hungry, yes.'' Harry speaks slowly. That seems to be enough for Louis to understand what is going on. It wouldn't surprise Liam if this happened more often.

''Did you see me, Liam?'' Harry asks a bit concerned. Liam would have liked him to be a bit more concerned last night, when Harry seemed rather busy with the other guy.  
''Who was the other guy, Harry?'' he can't help but ask. Maybe because he wants to see Louis' reaction too. But Louis' face shows no emotion.  
''It was Jonathan. A friend of mine. Well, a special kind of friend. If you know what I mean.'' Liam assumes he means fuckbuddies. So he nods.  
''No!'' Harry says in a loud voice. ''I mean... '' But Louis is interupting him already: ''He means a friend with whom he likes to murder people.'' he says bluntly.  
''They are very good, to be honest. Sometimes I see vampires running after people because they are bad hunters. Harry's not like that. Harry is just cruel.'' he continues in a teasing voice.  
''You love it when I am cruel,'' Harry says very softly, but hard enough for Liam to hear.  
''You think I slept with Jonathan last night, don't you?'' he hears Harry ask. Not knowing whether it is directed to him or Louis, he looks up.  
But no, Harry is staring at him. Cause he is the only one who is picking up the wrong signals, apparently.  
''I mean, it could be possible? No? He was a very attractive lad. And he seemed interested in you,'' Liam answers.

Louis starts smiling. ''Yeah, but another person is interested in our dear Harry as well. I am quite sure his boyfriend wouldn't like that.''  
His boyfriend. So Harry's got a boyfriend. Well, Liam didn't see that one coming. Not after last night. Not after Harry was grinding against every guy he could find. Maybe they are in an open relationship.  
''Do I know him?'' Liam asks, because he is a curious guy.  
''Yes,'' Harry answers. ''He is from the same city as you are.''  
Liam is quite shocked when he figures out that the only person who Harry could mean is Niall. But Niall has been here for 9 months. And Liam hasn't noticed anything suspicious. If anything, he suspected Harry and Louis to be in a relationship. Harry is always with Louis in his room. Every time Liam goes to meet up with Louis, Harry is there as well. Even when his plan is to hang out with Louis, Harry is always there to join them. Not that Liam cares, cause Harry is a lovely person. But he doesn't understand why Harry would almost always spend the night with Louis, if he could also be with his boyfriend?

Harry is laughing at him. It wakes him up out of his deep thoughts about Harry and Niall.  
''Do you want to hang out tonight? You look like you have so much questions. Maybe we should ask Niall as well?'' he asks with a sneaky smile on his face.  
And well, Liam wouldn't be curious if he didn't accept the offer.

\--

This is the second night in a row he sees Harry misbehave. This time in front of the eyes of his boyfriend. Who doesn't seem to care at all.  
In fact, Niall is in a deep conversation with Perrie, who seems to have all his attention.  
No wonder they have succeeded in keeping their relationship secret for so long. Niall and Harry act more like brothers around each other than Niall and Liam do.  
They are taking it far, Louis and Harry. Liam has never seen the two like that, although he imagined them to be like that all the time in private. They are always touching each other. In private, in public. It doesn't matter.  
  
With the alcohol in their brains, Harry and Louis seem to overstep some boundaries. They have been cuddling all night. First Harry on top of Louis, a bit later Harry was getting too heavy for Louis, so they switched. Now, they are sitting behind each other on the couch. Louis behind Harry. Liam doesn't want to create the more general image, but his horny mind can't help it. In the meantime, they even have the decency to talk with their friends. Sometimes, Liam feels that Harry is looking at him. Like he is trying to make a statement, such as, I do what I want. It's my life. Well, if that is what defines Harry as a vampire, he doesn't know whether he wants to be friends with him.  
  
He feels how two soft hands find their way from his neck down to his back. Someone slides a leg behind him, and goes to sit in the same position with him as Louis sits with Harry. Liam is horny, so he doesn't really care about who it is. Their breath in his ear feels nice. Maybe he would even be in the mood if it was a girl, this time. The hands don't seem to belong to a girl, though.   
''You smell, Liam.'' he hears Zayn voice say in his ear. ''You smell like sex. It's making me feel horny.''  
''Ahum,'' he hears Louis and Harry say. Of course, those shit-dips have to ruin it.  
''Perrie, your boyfriend is trying to hump against another guy,'' Louis teasing voice sounds through the room.  
Nice move, Lewis. Just so that everyone can hear it. He hates them. Both of them.  
''He wouldn't stand a chance,'' Perrie says, ''Zayn, babe. Let's go back to my room. Before you rape poor Liam.''  
  
''He does smell like sex, though.'' he hears Harry whisper, followed by Louis' laugh.  
It doesn't take them long to make Liam feel surrounded.  
''Guys, I am leaving too. Have a good night!'' he hears Niall say. Weird boyfriend. Harry and him are a weird couple, Liam is sure of it now.  
''He isn't my boyfriend, baby.'' Harry whispers in his ear.  
It's not that Liam cares anymore about his lies. He just wants-to-have-sex. It has been too long.  
''Gonna make you feel good, Liam,'' Harry continues. ''We both are, you smell like you haven't had sex in 4 mounths.''  
It's actually 8 months, since the moment he arrived here. But Liam isn't going to tell that.  
  
Ten minutes later, Liam doesn't know what to do anymore. It's just too much.  
While Harry is giving him a blowjob, probably the best blowjob he ever had in his entire life, Louis is preparing him for something... bigger.  
Liam would be very embarrassed if he didn't last before Louis had the chance to fuck him, but he wouldn't be surprised either.  
He can't control his own body anymore. Instead, he uses his hands to push his penis deeper into Harry's mouth.  
''No need to choke him,'' Louis warns him. It's not a warning for Harry's safety, Liam can tell. Harry's got skills, Harry can deepthroat.  
Apparently, Louis doesn't like the idea of Liam -literally- using Harry for his own pleasure.  
  
When Liam feels that he is losing himself, Harry removes his mouth from Liam's penis.  
''He ready?'' he asks Louis, his voice rough. God, Liam loves Harry.  
''He is all yours,'' Louis answers.  
Oh. Liam didn't see that one coming.  
''Wait a minute, Haz.'' he hears Louis say.  
''Liam, on your back please.'' Louis orders. ''Harry, hug him, so that your bum is in my direction.''  
Liam does what he is told, he feels Harry's penis rub against his belly, before Harry goes to lay between his legs.  
From that moment, all Liam can feel is Harry getting harder. All Liam can hear is Harry's little noises.  
He can't see anything, because Harry is blocking his view. It seems like Louis did that on purpose.  
The only thing he can tell is that Harry really likes whatever Louis is doing with him.  
''If you don't want me to cum, you stop now.'' he hears Harry whisper.  
  
Harry needs two seconds to push Liam on his hands and knees.  
Another two seconds, and Liam feels how Harry lines his penis up against him.  
When Harry pushes in, Liam feels the pain he loves so much.  
Harry is big, more than what Liam is used to. It feels so good to have someone inside him again.  
When Harry starts thrusting, it doesn't take long for Liam to start being really loud.  
He feels like Louis' neighbours are used to something (does he even still have neighbours?), but even for them this must be too much.  
  
It doesn't take long for Liam to cum. He immediately regrets it, because that means the end to his experience with Louis and Harry.  
He doubts they are going to let him join again.  
Harry has good endurance, he can tell. He seems to have enough self-control to pull out of him, before Louis comes over to him.  
He pulls him from Liam rather roughly. Possessive little thing.  
''Clear your mind, lad.'' Louis whispers to Harry. He continues in a sweeter voice. ''Silent, baby. I think the neighbours have heard enough for today,'' he tells him before pushing him on his back.  
The little noises Harry makes are enough to make him hard again. Liam can hear the exact moment Louis pushes in, by the little moans escaping Harry's mouth.  
On a certain moment, Harry's voice becomes louder until Liam can almost feel Harry's orgasm fall over him. A few seconds after that, he hears Louis cum as well.  
  
\--  
  
The next morning, Liam wakes up from some noises next to his head. When he opens his eyes, he sees how he is laying next to Louis and Harry.  
He closes his eyes again, because he doesn't want to be the one who invades their privacy.  
The noise continues. ''Did you really feed two nights ago?'' he hears Louis ask softly.  
''Am always thirsty. Different kind of thirsty. It's because of Liam. He smells so sweet all the time.'' Harry whispers back.  
''Control yourself, babe,'' Louis says. ''Last night I feared for a moment you were going to bite him.''  
''I almost did,'' Harry tells him. ''If it would have been me and him alone, I wouldn't feel so hungry right now.''  
He hears Louis laughing. ''No, and he would never feel hungry anymore.'  
  
He hears them kiss for a while.  
''Did I smell as sweet as him when I was young and innocent?'' he hears Harry ask.  
''You smelled even better. And I was so young back then. You have hundred years more experience in controlling your thirst.''  
''But I let you drink,'' Harry says. ''Guess I never was as innocent as he was.''  
''No, you were not.'' Louis laughs.  
When he hears the sound of Louis feeding himself off Harry's blood, Liam considers opening an eye.


	8. Chapter 8

''Can you please repeat what I've just told?'' the teacher asks him.  
  
Liam sighs. It's the first lesson from this new teacher, and he has no idea what she has just told.  
History class is just not his favourite. It never was, and it never will be.  
  
The new teacher is a special one, though. Liam can't tell whether she is a vampire or not. She is very pretty, and she looks quite young as well.  
She's got something familiar around her, but Liam can't explain why.

Normally, they don't let 'normal' people teach the students at Ariano, because they fear that vampire students would have no respect for them.  
This woman seems to be respected by the whole class. Liam wonders whether they know her true identity.

Most of the teachers have been studying here for years. As vampires, they have trouble adjusting to a life with 'normal' people. Some leave the university forever. Others come back after a few decades to start a new life, surrounded by their vampire friends again.

\--

Liam is surprised to find out that none of the other boys is sitting at their lunch table. He doesn't want to sit alone, so he takes a seat next to Josh.  
  
''Do you have any idea where the others are?'' he asks him.  
  
Josh is human, but Josh knows everything about everyone. His existence is probably the only reason Liam hasn't been turned into a vampire so far.

''You don't know yet?'' Josh asks him. ''Niall has been attacked by a vampire last night. He was walking around through the university building after midnight. Nobody knows what he was doing. He was found this morning by a teacher.''

Liam is shocked. It takes him a few minutes to understand the news. Niall has been attacked.

''Is... Is he alive?'' he asks when he knows how to use his voice again.

''Barely,'' Josh answers, the sympathy in his eyes.  
  
''Liam,'' he says after a few seconds, ''You need to realise that most people around here turn into vampires, sooner or later.''

''But you're not a vampire...'' Liam answers. ''You're still human.''  
  
''Yes,'' Josh says, ''But I have been attacked too. We all have our moments of stupidity. Fact is, if you try to lock someone in his room after 10PM, his body wants to find a way out. All humans have been there. I know you did the same thing when you had just arrived here. But you had the luck of Zayn going after you. You've learned a lesson when you saw what they put Zayn through.''

''But Niall had a protector as well!'' Liam says.

On that moment, he realises that he has never heard Niall talk about a protector. He had always shared a room with Josh. Josh is a human being. So Josh couldn't be his protector.

''Who was his protector?'' he asks after that.

''He didn't have one,'' Josh answers.

''But, we all have a protector. No, that can't be true!'' Liam answers.

The tension is too much for him. Niall is the sweetest person on the planet. He doesn't understand how anybody could hurt him.

''Why didn't he have one?'' he asks.

''He didn't want to be protected by someone. Harry offered to be his protector, Louis offered to take care of him. They would all have taken care of him. Even Perrie offered to be his protector. But Niall didn't want to live the rest of his life being scared of vampires. You know how he is.''

Liam understands. The carefree Niall locked into his room after 10PM. He just didn't realise that humans could refuse their protection. And with that, nobody would be punished for him going out after midnight.

\--

''I come to visit Niall Horan,'' he tells the receptionist who needs to give him permission to go to Niall's room.

''I am sorry, love. But we don't want more people to visit Niall.'' she tells him.

He understands that she is doing this for Niall, but he hates to be kept away from his friend.  
Disappointed, he takes a seat in the lobby. He hopes that Harry or one of the others will come out of Niall's room anytime soon. Maybe they could arrange something.  
He has been waiting in the lobby for around half an hour, when a familiar looking person walks out of Niall's room.  
It takes Liam a second to find out that she is the history teacher from earlier.  
She doesn't recognise Liam, so he has no other option than asking her for help.

''I am sorry, but can I ask you a question?'' he starts.

''Of course,'' she answers with a smile on her face.

''Do you happen to know more about Niall's situation? I am his friend, but they won't allow me in his room.'' he says.

The young woman goes to the receptionist straight away. ''Sarah, if I make sure this boy doesn't make any noise, will you allow him to come with me?''  
  
After a moment of silence, the receptionist allows Liam to come with her. Liam still doesn't know anything about the teacher, but he loves her already.

''You don't need to be very quiet,'' the woman says before entering the room. ''Niall is asleep. He won't be waking up before his body has been recovered.''

That doesn't sound very hopeful to Liam, who understands that this means that they have tried to turn him into a vampire.  
Still, he would rather see him as a vampire than as a dead body.

When they enter the room, he understands why the receptionist didn't want him to go inside.  
Louis, Perrie and Zayn are standing around Niall's bed. It takes Liam awhile to figure out that the Head is sitting next to Niall's bed, as well as Harry.  
  
Harry is the first one to see him. He comes over to give him a hug.  
''They told you what happened?'' he whispers in his ear.  
  
''More or less. How is he doing?'' Liam answers. He is more interested in Niall's recovery right now.  
  
''He will be fine when he wakes up.'' Harry says, a sad smile on his face.

After that, he lets Liam sit on his chair.

The ambiance in the room is toxic. Liam doesn't know where he is waiting for. Probably for Niall to wake up as a vampire.  
When he looks at his left, he sees Harry and the woman hugging each other. It looks like they have known each other for ages.  
  
On Liam's right, Louis is staring at Niall's bed. His look is empty, like he is blaming himself for what happened with Niall.  
Harry seems to notice this as well, because he walks over to Louis' side of the room.  
A small smile comes through on Louis' face, who turns his face so that he can look at Harry for a moment.

Liam wants to have someone taking care of him as well, but he doesn't know who to turn to.  
''Come stand here, Liam,'' Zayn's voice tells him. So he stands up and goes to stand next to him.  
  
From the corner of his eye, he sees how Louis is using this moment to speak to the Head in a quiet voice.  
''They need to get out of here before he wakes up,'' he hears the Head say to Louis.  
  
It takes Liam a moment to realise that with 'they' the Head means himself and Perrie, the only two humans in the room.  
''He will not be waking up in the next couple of hours, Austin,'' Louis answers.  
  
''You need to realise that if he suddenly wakes up, Liam will be traumatized for the rest of his life,'' the Head says.  
''His friendship with him will never be the same again, Louis. You have seen it happen with your own eyes.''  
  
Liam wonders about that last sentence. He will be traumatized? By Niall? He looks at Niall's body again, but can't even see a scar.  
How will being in Niall's room give him a trauma? He doesn't understand.

''He was a different story, dad. He was going after her for a reason. He wanted her dead.'' Louis says.  
  
Liam is shocked by his answer. Who wanted who dead, and why? And when?  
  
''Take care of them, Louis,'' the Head mumbles. ''I will hold you personal responsible if something happens.''

And with those last words, he leaves the room.

  
\--  
  
When the Head has left the room, Harry tells him that every person reacts in a different way after being turned by a vampire.  
He had turned Niall himself that morning, by making him drink enough of his vampire blood to chance.  
He also tells Liam that this is a way to get to know Niall's control of his thirst. There is a big chance that Niall will be trying to kill one of the humans when he wakes up.  
Even though Liam tries to not take that in a personal way, he can't help but feel a bit sad that Niall would try to kill him in a heartbeat if he had the chance.

''Did you try to kill one of your friends, Harry?'' he asks him. He feels like Harry is a good example of what he can expect from Niall.  
  
He regrets that question as soon as he knows the answer.

''I would have done anything for some blood,'' Harry says. ''I was a terrible young vampire. I tried to kill every human being I came across. I even tried to kill some vampires, just because I loved to fight. It makes you feel high when you feed off an another vampire. If I hadn't been together with someone who knew what I was going through, I would have had sex with every other vampire I came across.  
It makes every sense in you feel ten times stronger. You get thirsty, hungry, horny, and you don't know what to do with your energy. In the end, most vampires learn to use their powers in better ways, and most eventually find their old personality back. It took me a few months to do that. Believe me, you can do some horrible things in a few months.''

Liam can't believe his ears. They guy who is one of the nicest guys of the whole university, has been going around like a beast for some time.  
  
''Why did nobody stop you? I mean, Louis or the Head could have stopped you, right?'' he asks.

''Nobody can stop a vampire who's gone of to town. They are powerful, and they know how to get what they want. '' Harry answers. ''If you want to stop them, you will have to kill them.''  
He continues: ''But most vampires know what such a new vampire goes through. Some vampires are just a bit easier to control than others. And to be fair, a lot of vampires tried to kill me back then. If Louis would have turned his back on me, that young vampire from then would have been killed by a couple of vampires who lost their friends because of me. We're talking about more than 90 years ago, but there are still vampires around who are angry with me for the things I did.''

Liam wants to ask so many questions, but Harry's attention is suddenly on Niall's bed.

Louis is already standing next to Niall, his eyes focussed on him.  
  
Liam knows that he shouldn't be to close to Niall's bed, but he wants to see what's going on.  
It is only when Liam looks into Niall's eyes, that he understands why the Head didn't want him to see that.

He has seen Harry's eyes a couple of time when they were red, but Niall's eyes are freaking him out. He looks hungrier than Liam has ever seen a vampire look.

It is only then that he understand in what kind of dangerous situation him and Perrie are.

''Aaah,'' he hears Niall moan. The poor boy looks like he is in a lot of pain. ''What's going on? Why is everything hurting so much?'' he asks in a stressed voice.

At least he can still talk like a normal human being, Liam thinks by himself.

''He can still talk like a normal human being, Liam, but it's better if you take a few steps away from his bed.'' he hears Louis voice say in his head.

Surprised, he looks at Louis. The last one acts like nothing has happened.

Liam's got the message, though, so he takes a few steps back. He ends up next to Perrie, which is probably what Louis wanted.

''Very well done, smart boy.'' Louis sarcastic voice sounds again.

Liam is too surprised to say something back, not that he knows how to do that anyway.

''Louis, help!'' Niall screams. ''What is going on with me? Please, say something.''

Liam almost wants to cry hearing Niall call for help like that. Poor little lamb.

''Niall,'' Harry says in a steady voice. ''Listen to me. You were out in the University last night, on your own. Somebody attacked you. When they found you, it was already too late for you to recover as a human being. I am so sorry Niall, I chose to change you myself this morning.'' he says. Then Louis walks over, and grabs Nialls hand. ''Niall, I need you to listen really carefully now. You are a vampire now. The first thing you will notice in a few minutes, is a craving for blood. Don't try to fight that. You will need blood to survive. It's your body telling you what to do. Normally we could give you blood bags to take the hunger away for a bit, but it is essential that you get some fresh blood within a few hours, otherwise you won't survive. In the meantime, I need you to stay close to me. Okay, Niall?''

''Yes,'' is the answer. Niall's voice is shaking a bit. ''Don't regret your decision, Harry.'' he says after that. ''I am happy you didn't let me die.''

It takes him a few seconds to continue. ''I am feeling so weak, Louis.'' he tells. He closes his eyes again.

A moment later, he opens his eyes. ''Is thát the smell of blood, Louis? O my god, that smells delicious. I could deal with that,'' he says.

It takes Harry and Louis a second to find out what he means. ''Lou, I smell blood as well.'' Harry says, a different tone to his voice.

When Liam looks at Harry's face, he sees that Harry's eyes have become red as well. ''Lou, it's like Niall's hunger is infecting me.'' Harry says, his voice not steady anymore.

He looks down to the floor, trying to keep himself together. ''The bond between the one who bites and the one who is bitten, little one,'' Louis answers in a soft tone.

''Can you contain yourself? Do I need to take you outside?'' he asks.

''No, Lou. I don't want to run away. If Niall can do it, I can do it too.'' Harry answers.

''Yeah, but the difference is that Niall is weak and in bed, and you're strong and standing on two feet. Do me a favour, Harry, and go away if you feel like you're going to do something stupid.'' Louis says.

Liam hears the words he is not saying. Louis can control Niall, because he is still weak. If Harry and Niall both go crazy at the same time, it could be dangerous for all of them.

''Lou, I smell blood. Like, I smell fresh blood. Don't you smell it?'' Harry says suddenly. ''Or am I going crazy?'' It's not hard to notice that Harry can't think straight anymore. Liam hopes he is just imagining things, because the smell of fresh blood would drive some people in this room crazy, indeed.

He sees how Louis is trying to figure out what Harry means. When Zayn says that he smells it too, Louis is suddenly glancing at Liam.

A few seconds later, he sees that Harry and Zayn turn their faces to look at him as well. Harry's eyes are still red, but Liam sees that he is trying to do his best to contain himself.

''Good, I think it's children's bedtime,'' Louis says. Liam can almost hear him think. ''Zayn, you go with Liam. Harry, you're going to bring Perrie back to her room.'' he orders.

''No!'' Harry says, ''I am not going to leave him here like this.''

''Zayn, bring Perrie back to her room.'' Louis says. ''I need two people to stay here with Niall, in case he needs help.''

Liam looks at Niall, who seems to do a better job of controlling himself than Harry. That's what Louis seems to think as well.

''And I want Harold to come with me, cause we're going to bring Liam back to his room.''

\--  
  
When they are outside Niall's room, Louis pushes Harry against a wall.

''I need you to be very cooperative right now, or I will personally lock you into my room.''

Liam doesn't have much experience around thirsty vampires, but he knows that Harry is not himself right now.

''I know what it feels like to protect the one you changed, Harold,'' Louis answers. ''But you can't protect him if you're feeling as thirsty as he does.''

''I didn't know Liam was going to be so stupid to make us smell his delicious blood,'' Harry answers.

''Wait? What did I do?'' Liam asks. He has no idea what they're talking about.

''You're bleeding, Liam.'' Louis says. ''I think you have been biting on your own lips or something like that. There is some blood on your mouth. It smells like heaven.''

''Tastes like heaven as well, I bet.'' Harry says. He says it in a cheeky way, but Liam is still happy that Louis has his arm around Harry's waist.

''You're walking on thin ice right now, H.'' Louis says. ''We're still close to my room.''

Harry smiles at him, the smile Liam is used to know. ''Am sorry, Lou.'' he says while bringing his mouth closer to Louis'.

He can see Harry visibly relax by Louis' touch.

Liam sees how he is trying to take Louis' scent in, to calm himself down.

''I knew I was going to feel Niall's emotions after I turned him, but I didn't realise I would also feel his thirst this bad.''

It's like I am a young vampire all over again,'' he complains. ''I want to grab every human being I come across. How long is this going to take?''

''Depends on whether you give in to it or not.'' Louis answers softly. ''If you reward yourself for being thirsty, it's going to take you as long as Niall to control yourself. However, if you do not give in, it will take you no longer than two week to get used to it.''

''It's not fair,'' Harry says, like a child who isn't getting any candy. ''I've been through all this already.''

''But you will come out stronger, eventually, love.'' Louis says. ''If you can survive this, your control will be better than before.''

He continues: ''Sometimes we have to take a step back, to come out two steps further.''

 


	9. Chapter 9

''Liam, are you here?'' Perrie's voice sounds from the other side of the door.

Louis and Harry have just brought him to his room. They were going to teach Niall to hunt.

''What are you doing here?'' is the first thing he asks when he opens the door.

''We,'' she begins, ''are going to spy on a few vampires.''

Liam can't believe his ears.

''You want to go spy on them? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?'' he asks.

''We'll be going in my car,'' she answers. ''They won't even notice we're there!''

Liam knows that it's one of the worst ideas she has ever had.

But, he is very curious at the same time.  
  
  
They are waiting in Perrie's car outside the University building, when they see how Louis and Harry come outside with Niall in between the two of them.

It's getting dark outside already. The evening is starting to fall.

Niall and Harry are both wearing sunglasses. Zayn follows a few steps behind.

''Please get in the car,'' he hears Perrie next to him say. ''It will be difficult to follow them if they go running from here.''

Luckily for them, they all go into Louis' car.

Liam and Perrie have been following them for more than half an hour, when Louis finally decides to park the car.

Because they don't want the others to know that they are there as well, they park the car so that the others will not see them.

They are standing in front of a park in a deserted village that is unknown to both Liam and Perrie.

In the hour after that, nothing happens. They are probably waiting for someone to walk by close enough to grab him.  
  
  
Then, on the other side of the street, a young woman crosses the street.

Liam prays that she goes away before they have seen her.

The woman seems to know exactly where she wants to go, and that is in the direction of Louis' car.

''I need to do something,'' he says to Perrie. But what? How is he going to defend her against whoever is going to kill her?

''You can't!'' Perrie answers. ''This is exactly why they don't want us to come here. This is what they do all the time, Liam. This is her fate.''

So Liam stays in the car. Watching how the woman is walking straight to her death.

He wonders about who is going to grab her. Probably Niall, since he is the one who needs to learn to hunt.

He is shocked when he sees that Harry is the one getting out of the car. He is holding a map in his hand.

It's obvious that he is asking her in which direction they have to go for London. The woman points exactly to where they came from.

Before thanking her, Harry keeps staring at her for a while. The woman probably thinks he is going to kiss her.

Harry doesn't place his mouth on her mouth, though. Another part of her body seems to be more appealing to him.

The woman isn't doing anything to stop him. She seems to be in trance.

Liam sees how Harry kisses her neck, but doesn't go any further. When Harry looks at the people in the car, Liam notices how red his eyes are.

Harry is having trouble containing himself, and that's why he doesn't want to drink from her, Liam thinks. He doesn't want to reward himself for this behaviour.

Niall, on the other hand, isn't doing anything to stop himself from drinking from her. As soon as he gets out, he starts drinking from her, and he is the one who makes the color on her face go from healthy red, to livid. The woman is dead.

\--

Somewhere in his mind, Liam is happy that Niall is not the only one who has to learn how to control his thirst.

Whenever Niall feels like drinking from an innocent student, Harry tries to help him through it.

Louis has decided that he doesn't want Harry or Niall to be alone with a human anymore.

For Harry, he sometimes makes an exception, because he seems to feel when is thirsty and when not.

''Never trust a thirsty vampire, Liam,'' Louis had told him. ''Especially not Harry.''

It had taken Liam a while to figure out why Louis was warning him so much for his own friend.

In the meantime, Harry had gone from looking hungry to looking very unhealthy.

It was not only the hunger that was taunting him now, it was the weakness of his own body and mind.

Liam knows it takes vampires a lot of energy to control themselves. Energy that they normally get from blood.

With Harry getting weaker, the situation was getting more and more dangerous.

Even Louis seems to think that, when he warns Liam for Harry yet again:

''Harry is a very smart one, Liam. He loves the smell of your blood in particular, which you may have figured out yourself already. I am not trying to make you feel nervous around him, but I want you to know that Harry knows how to play tricks with people. He uses his charm to get you calm before he places his teeth on your neck.'' he says.  
  
''First of all, never look into Harry's eyes when you feel that he is staring at you. And by staring, I don't mean while talking, I mean staring like he wants to kiss you. He will give you that feeling. If you feel that, he is trying to take all thoughts out of your brain. So what do you when that happens? You can either run, or you can tell him the most ridiculous story he has ever heard. I have never seen someone try the last one, so that would be a nice experiment. In your case, I should go with you being in love with someone around him. Try to turn the roles around. You don't want Harry in the active role, you want YOU in the active role. Place him in the passive role of listener, and he will forget what he was trying to do.'' he says. ''Well, he probably won't,'' he continues, ''but you can always try.''

''Second of all, always remember that you will not know when he is going to bite you, because he will make you believe that he is not hungry at all. So please, Liam. Make sure you are not around him on your own, make sure you get away when you see his eyes turn red, and make sure you don't trust anything he tells you. Cause if he bites you, the chances that someone will be able to rescue you is almost zero. Harry is a respected vampire around here, and nobody would dare to try taking his prey away.''

''Third of all, never bring Zayn into this. If something happens, I want you to leave him out of this. Zayn will not be able to rescue you, but he will definitely try. If Harry is out of his mind enough to bite you, he will be out of his mind enough to kill anybody that is trying to take him away from his prey. The result will not only be your death, but the result will be the death of both you and Zayn. I will not be able to cope with Harry killing two of his friends, and Harry will not be able to live knowing that he has killed two of his friends. So please, try to leave any other person out of this.''

The message is clear to Liam. If something like that happens, there is no hope for him to be rescued. Great.  
  
\--

  
Liam can tell that the days are harder for Harry than the nights. Louis makes sure that one of his vampire friends is keeping an eye on Harry during the day, but Liam can't help but feel a bit frightened by Harry. He knows that Harry won't come for him during the nights. Louis told him that Harry can't open the doors of students with his fingerprint like Louis can. On top of that, Louis is there to keep an eye on Harry during the nights.

They had all agreed on going out for a few drinks tonight, just to make Niall and Harry loosen up a bit.

Niall has been drinking too much. But nobody wants to ruin his evening by telling him to go home. It's been a while since Niall had some fun.

Louis made sure he fed before coming with them. He should be fine tonight, even on his own.

Harry is a different story, though. The fact that Harry has been drinking makes him less restricted in what he does.

Liam doesn't want to think too much about it, but Harry is touching him quite a lot. More than what he is used to.

He doesn't really feel frightened, because he knows that Louis is there all the time. But still, he keeps asking himself whether coming here tonight was a good idea.

He wants to go to the bathroom, and takes his chance when he sees Harry chatting to a pretty lady. Looking at their body language, he thinks that she will keep him preoccupied for a while.

When he is washing his hands, he hears someone enter the bathroom. He is acting paranoid, he thinks by himself. Even if it is Harry, and the chances of that are zero, he wouldn't just bite Liam out of nowhere. He is doing a pretty good job of controlling himself so far.

He feels how the person stands still behind him. He turns around, only to notice that Niall is standing behind him.

Niall. He forgot about Niall. After Louis' words, he has been so busy with focussing on avoiding Harry that he has completely forgotten about the Irish man.

All he can do is act like he isn't scared, and hope that Niall is not particularly hungry tonight. Even though everything about him screams that he is.  
  
''I would never kill you, Liam,'' he says, like he has heard Liam's thoughts. ''You're my friend, I don't kill friends.''

''However,'' he continues, while placing his hand on Liam's arm, ''I am so thirsty. Can you not let me drink some blood from your arm?''

''You know that I can't do that, Niall.'' he answers, trying to keep his voice steady. Niall is drunk, Liam can smell the alcohol.

''If I want to, I don't need your permission, Liam,'' Niall answers. If Liam doesn't want Niall's teeth in his arm, he has to say something really quickly.

''Niall! We both know that you wouldn't be able to stop if you do that,'' he says. ''Liam,'' Niall answers in the same tone, ''You're one of my best friends. The only reason I do this is because I am bloody thirsty, and I don't want to kill an innocent human being. Let me drink some blood from you, and we should both be fine.''

Before Liam has the chance to say anything else, Niall has placed his teeth on his arm. ''I am sorry Liam, but I promise, I won't be killing you.''

When his teeth sink into Liam's skin, Liam feels pain. However, when Niall starts drinking from him, Liam feels pure pleasure. Like he is being hypnotized by Niall's saliva.

The more Niall drinks, the weaker Liam starts to feel. This is it, he thinks. This is how people feel when a vampire is sucking them dry.

In a bit, he knows that he will lose his consciousness. From there, it will be a matter of time before he is dead. He didn't think it would end like this.

  
''Niall,'' he hears a steady, but rough voice say. ''I love you to death, but you need to let go of him right now.''

He can't place the voice in his head anymore, he is just too weak. It's a familair voice, that's what he knows.

He feels how someone pushes Niall of him, before he loses his consciousness.

  
When he wakes up, he sees two concerned red eyes looking at him. They're not Niall's, but Harry's.

Liam immediately knows that he is still in danger. He tries to get up. It's only then that he feels how a hand is trying to stop his arm from bleeding

''Liam, you can't get up already. I know you're afraid, but I am not going to hurt you.'' Harry says, his voice soft and sweet.

''Where is Niall?'' he asks him, to save some time. ''I don't know. I hope he has left the club, cause otherwise everybody is going to be in trouble.'' Harry answers.

''Harry!'' he says, remembering Louis' words. ''I think you should go and get some help.''

''Liam, I am here to help you. Stop being scared please,'' Harry answers. Harry knows exactly why he wants to get him out of the bathroom.

And then, there it is. The stare. The I-want-to-kiss-you-stare. Liam is going to be meat in a couple of minutes. No question anymore.  
  
Why not someone else? He loves his life too much. Why is there not someone to rescue him, like there always is in movies?

He doesn't look in Harry's eyes. Just like Louis' said. Even if it is only going to save some time, he will do anything that could possibly help him.

''Liam, look into my eyes,'' he hears Harry's voice. ''Concentrate, Liam. I need you to concentrate. Niall is gone, and I am not going to hurt you. Your hart will pump faster if you're scared, and you will be losing blood. I need you to calm down, mate.''

Yeah, Liam would lose blood. He gets it. Harry doesn't want to waste any of his precious blood. Clever boy.  
Liam doubts whether he is going to try plan B. Telling Harry he is in love with someone? He isn't sure how that's going help him out.  
Liam decides to skip all his other plans, and goes straight to plan Z.

''Louis!'' he screams the loudest he can, ''Louis! Help, Louis!''  
  
He doesn't expect Louis to come running into the bathroom. He really doesn't.  
That makes it a bit less painful, when Louis, indeed, isn't running into the bathroom.  
Actually, he doesn't show up at all.

But Liam can deal with that, because he kind of expected it. Apparently, this is his fate.  
He feels two strong hands around his mouth, and he knows that he won't be able to scream anymore.  
''What do you think, Liam, happens when you scream for Louis to help you in the bathroom of a club full of people?'' Harry asks him. His voice not as sweet anymore.  
''You will draw all the attention on you. People will come into the bathroom, and see you here laying in a bath of blood.''  
''And what will they think then, mate?'' he continues. ''They will all know that vampires actually do exist. And then it's not only your problem anymore, then it's the problem of our whole society.''

After those last words, Liam loses his consciousness. Again.

When Liam opens his eyes because he hears some noise, he sees Niall walking into the bathroom.

He is still concious when he sees Niall running out of the bathroom again.

Thanks Niall. I am going to die here, and the last thing I've seen in my life was you running away from the mess you created, Liam thinks by himself.

He closes his eyes, and lets the sleep take over. If he is going to die, he should at least enjoy his last minutes on earth.

\--

He opens his eyes when he feels someone pushing Harry away from him.

He wants to close his eyes again when he sees that the other person is Zayn.

Great. Everything that could go wrong went wrong.

He sees Zayn throwing himself on Harry.

''I thought you were his friend, Harry!'' he hears him shout. ''How could you! I don't care about how hungry you are!''

He is too weak to stand up and get help. He is just lying there, looking at the two vampires fighting with each other.

He closes his eyes again, waiting for Harry to come back and finish his task.

He knows that Harry is more powerful than Zayn ever will be. It is just a matter of time now. And all his fault. If he hadn't gone to the bathroom, nothing would have happened.

After a minute or two, he hears the footsteps of another person walking into the bathroom.  
  
The silence in the bathroom is making him feel anxious. He doesn't want to know what happened to Zayn, or Harry.

''You should have gone home when I asked you to go home,'' he hears Louis say in a cold and disappointed voice. Thank god.


	10. Chapter 10

It is three days after the incident, and Liam hasn't heard anything from Harry or Niall.  
He feels healthier than ever before. Harry was right, he didn't lose too much blood.  
  
He knocks on the door of Louis' room, to let him know that he is there. Louis invited him over for dinner with him and Harry.  
Liam didn't want to go, but Zayn had convinced him that he needed to. So here he is, standing with a bottle of wine in his hand.  
A peace offering? Liam isn't sure about whether he wants to offer them piece.  
  
To his surprise, it is not Louis who opens the door, but Harry.  
He looks so guilty that Liam almost feels sad for him. Almost.

Harry cooked dinner for them, pasta bolognese. It tastes nice, even though Liam knows the two vampires couldn't care less about human food.  
  
''Liam, I want to apologize to you,'' Harry starts in a nervous tone. ''You were frightened because of my behaviour. I shouldn't have done that.''

Well, that part is obvious to Liam. But why doesn't he just apologize?

''Harry, be honest with him,'' Louis interupts.

''I want you to know that I didn't bite you,'' Harry continues. ''I wasn't planning on touching you, and I never tried to drink from you.''  
  
Liam is flabbergasted. Is Harry really trying to lie his way out of this? That is such a low thing to do.  
  
''You believe that, Louis?'' he asks the other guy. He can't believe them. Louis is smarter than that.  
''I was laying in a bath of blood. Zayn was looking rather unconscious to me. And you want to tell me that you never planned on touching me?'' Liam is getting really angry now.

''Calm down, Liam. Watch your tone please.'' Louis says with a sharp tone in his voice.

''Why do you chose his side?'' He asks, even though he already knows the answer. Louis would never not chose Harry's side.

''Because he is speaking the truth, Liam.'' Louis answers in a frustated tone, ''if you would just take a minute to listen to the guy!''

''I was chatting to Erica when you left to go to the bathroom.'' Harry starts,  
''I saw you leave. I also saw a very hungry looking Niall follow you into the bathroom. I didn't want it to look suspicious, so I waited for you to come out again. When you didn't come out after a few minutes, I started looking for you. When I came into the bathroom, I saw Niall drinking from your arm. I pushed him away and told him to get away from the club.''  
  
''In the meantime, I had some trouble controlling my own thirst. But then you woke up, and I saw how scared you were. I tried to calm you down, but it seemed like you were only getting more and more scared. When you were screaming for Louis to come and help you, I knew you were not going to listen to me. I didn't want you to cause any trouble, so I asked you to shut your mouth. Fortunately for me, you lost your consciousness shortly after that,'' he says.  
  
''Shortly after that, Niall came walking into the bathroom again. He apparently thought that I was trying to drink from you, because he runned out of the bathroom to get some help. He saw Zayn, and told him that I had bitten you. He was scared that I would kill you, but forgot to add the part where he bit you in the first place. Zayn came in, saw you lying in your bath of blood, and started fighting with me before I could even explain to him what was going on. I didn't want to hurt him, but he definitely wanted to hurt me. I didn't know what to do, so I asked Louis to help me.''

It takes Liam a minute or two to let the story sink in.  
''But, why was Louis angry when he came into the bathroom? He said that he told you to go home?'' he asks Harry.

''I didn't say that to him! That was meant for Niall,'' Louis answers.

''Why would you tell Niall such a thing?''

''Because he was drunk and thirsty, that is never a good combination. And because some vampire friends of us were heading home already. But instead of going home with them, which I thought he did, he followed you into the bathroom. Which was very clever, because I wasn't expecting him to be there anymore. And Harry wouldn't have expected him there either, if he hadn't seen him following you into the bathroom,'' he explains.  
  
It takes Liam a while to let the story sink in. For the past couple of days, he had seen Harry as a monster. Over and over, the image of Harry above his body had been running through his mind.  
Turns out that it wasn't Harry's fault. Turns out that Harry actually tried to save him.


End file.
